Wall Barley

What a scruffy plant Wall Barley is! When Chris and I took our morning walk today it was to be seen everywhere - neglected lawns, roadside gutters and, of course, the base of walls. Except in the Scottish Highlands, where it is uncommon, it is to be found all over Britain.

Wall Barley against - where else? - a wall. Grovelands, Daventry.

13 June, 2020

Its Latin name is Hordeum murinum and, on the face of it, both its Latin and English names seem well-earned - except that the Latin generic name is not, as might be supposed, derived from muralis - of walls, but from murinus, 'of mice and rats'. It is so well-established that we forget that it is not a native and may have arrived as an impurity in seed brought to this country in Neolithic times. Equally well it could have arrived on clothing, the fleeces of sheep or other animal coats. (Incidentally the generic name Hordeum is derived from the Latin horrere, to bristle, and is related to our word 'horror'). Perhaps it was cursed by the farmer when it contaminated clothing or fleeces.

Wall Barley will grow in dry, neglected lawns. Grovelands, Daventry.

13 June, 2020

We are all familiar with the childhood games we played with the dart-like inflorescences. These involved not only throwing them at friends but also playing 'mousey-mousey'. This you may recall, involved picking a spike of wall barley and placing it upside down, hidden in a lightly clenched fist. The fist was then gently but rapidly opened and closed until the 'mouse' popped it head out. As for using the 'darts' to throw at friends, I can recall one of my sisters having to have her hair drastically cut in order to remove one.

There are some 30 species of Hordeum (although some botanists would break the genus into smaller groups) and the most important is H. vulgare, Common Barley. We have a few plants of 6-row barley, once known as 'Sprat Barley' in our back garden and are the result of bird seed spillages.

In our garden we have a few plants growing from bird-seed spillages.

Stefen Hill, Daventry. 13 June, 2020

It climbs up through our specimen of the rose 'Ferdinand Pichard' and I am happy to leave it there.


Tony White. diaea@yahoo.co.uk